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Pseudoarchaeological Texts
Pseudoarchaeology (sometimes called fringe or alternative archaeology) consists of attempts to study, interpret, or teach about the subject-matter of archaeology while rejecting, ignoring, or misunderstanding the accepted data-gathering and analytical methods of the discipline. Fagan and Feder 2006. p. 720. These pseudoscientific interpretations involve the use of artifacts, sites or materials to construct scientifically insubstantial theories to strengthen the pseudoarchaeologists' claims. Methods include exaggeration of evidence, dramatic or romanticized conclusions, use of fallacious arguments, and fabrication of evidence. There is no unified pseudoarchaeological theory or method, but rather many different interpretations of the past which are jointly at odds with those developed by the scientific community as well as with each other. These include religious philosophies such as creationism or "creation science" that apply to the archaeology of historic periods such as those ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erich Von Däniken
Erich Anton Paul von Däniken (; ; born 14 April 1935) is a Swiss author of several pseudoscientific books which make claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, including the best-selling '' Chariots of the Gods?'', published in 1968. Däniken is one of the main figures responsible for popularizing the " paleo-contact" and ancient astronauts hypotheses. The ideas put forth in his books are rejected by virtually all scientists and academics, who categorize his work as pseudohistory, pseudoarchaeology, and pseudoscience. Early in his career, he was convicted and served time for several counts of fraud or embezzlement, and wrote one of his books in prison. Däniken was the co-founder of the Archaeology, Astronautics and SETI Research Association (AAS RA). He designed Mystery Park, a theme park located in Interlaken, Switzerland, that opened in May 2003. Early life Däniken was born in Zofingen, Aargau. Brought up as a Roman Catholic, he attended the Sain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Bergier
Jacques Bergier (; maybe born Yakov Mikhailovich Berger (); Odessa, Paris, 23 November 1978) was a chemical engineer, member of the French resistance, spy, journalist and writer. He co-wrote the best-seller '' The Morning of the Magicians'' with Louis Pauwels as a work of "fantastic realism" (a term coined by the authors). Early life Yakov Mikhailovich Berger, who later adopted the name Jacques Bergier, was born in Odessa in 1912. In his autobiography, ''Je ne suis pas une légende'' ("I am Not a Legend"), Bergier tells that his surname was a transliteration error from a Polish official that turned his surname into "Bergier" (in Russian "e" is read "ye"). "Jacques" is the French for Yakov in Russian and Hebrew. His father, Mikhail Berger, was a Jewish wholesale grocer and his mother, Etlia Krzeminiecka, was a former revolutionary. A grand-uncle of his was a miraculous rabbi and in his autobiography, Bergier says he was a cousin of nuclear physicist George Gamow and of a ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neopaganism
Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the Paganism, beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse, sharing no single set of beliefs, practices, or religious texts. Religious studies, Scholars of religion may study the phenomenon as a movement divided into different religions, while others study neopaganism as a decentralized religion with an array of Religious denomination, denominations. Adherents rely on Christianization, pre-Christian, folkloric, and ethnographic sources to a variety of degrees; many of them follow a spirituality that they accept as entirely modern, while others claim to adhere to Prehistoric religion, prehistoric beliefs, or else, they attempt to revive indigenous religions as accurately as possible. List of modern pagan movements, Modern pagan movements are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Age
New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consider it a religious movement, its adherents typically see it as spiritual or as a unification of mind, body, and spirit, and rarely use the term ''New Age'' themselves. Scholars often call it the New Age movement, although others contest this term and suggest it is better seen as a Social environment, ''milieu'' or ''zeitgeist''. As a form of Western esotericism, the New Age drew heavily upon esoteric traditions such as the occultism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the work of Emanuel Swedenborg and Franz Mesmer, as well as Spiritualism (movement), Spiritualism, New Thought, and Theosophy (Blavatskian), Theosophy. More immediately, it arose from mid-20th-century influen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theosophy (Blavatskian)
Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neoplatonism and Indian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Although many adherents maintain that Theosophy is not a religion, it is variably categorized by religious scholars as both a new religious movement and a form of occultism from within Western esotericism. As presented by Blavatsky, Theosophy teaches that there is an ancient and secretive brotherhood of spiritual adepts known as the Masters, who are found around the world but primarily centered in Tibet. These Masters were alleged by Blavatsky to have cultivated great wisdom and supernatural powers, and Theosophists believe they initiated the modern Theosophical movement through disseminating their teachings via Blavatsky. Theosophists believe that these Masters are attemp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Israelites
British Israelism (also called Anglo-Israelism) is a pseudo-historical belief that the people of Great Britain are "genetically, racially, and linguistically the direct descendants" of the Ten Lost Tribes of ancient Israel. With roots in the 16th century, British Israelism was inspired by several 19th century English writings such as John Wilson's 1840 ''Our Israelitish Origin''. From the 1870s onward, numerous independent British Israelite organizations were set up throughout the British Empire as well as in the United States; as of the early 21st century, a number of these organizations are still active. In the United States, the idea gave rise to the Christian Identity movement. The central tenets of British Israelism have been refuted by archaeological, ethnological, genetic, and linguistic research. History Earliest recorded expressions According to Brackney (2012) and Fine (2015), the French Huguenot magistrate M. le Loyer's ''The Ten Lost Tribes'', published in 1590 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyramidology
Pyramidology (or pyramidism) refers to various religion, religious or pseudoscience, pseudoscientific speculations regarding pyramids, most often the Giza pyramid complex and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.Martin Gardner, ''Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science'', Dover, 1957; a reprint of ''In the Name of Science'', G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1952. Some "pyramidologists" also concern themselves with the monumental structures of pre-Columbian the Americas, America (such as Teotihuacan, the Mesoamerican Maya civilization, and the Inca of the South American Andes), and the temples of Southeast Asia. Some pyramidologists claim that the Great Pyramid of Giza has encoded within it predictions for the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt,Capt, E. Raymond ''The Great Pyramid Decoded'' Artisan Publishers (June 1978) pp. 76–78 the crucifixion of Jesus, the start of World War I, the founding of modern-day Israel in 1948, and future events including the beginning of Armageddon; this was d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeocryptography
Archaeocryptography (from Greek , ''arkhaios'', "ancient" and (''kruptós''), "hidden, secret"; and (''graphein''), "to write") is the attempt to decode an ancient monument or structure by supposing an underlying mathematical order beneath the proportions, size, and placement to find any re-occurring or unusual data in respect to that which is being studied, or within another monument or structure. Archaeocryptography is not a recognized branch of archaeology or of any other academic discipline. It is an example of pseudoscience or pseudoarchaeology that employs contrived calculations involving many free parameters to achieve an impressive-looking result. Description The word ''archaeocryptography'' is derived from ''archaeology'', which is the study of human activity in the past, and ''cryptography'', which is the study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties. Methods Archaeocryptologists try to find underlying correlations with respect t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Esotericism
Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthodox Judeo-Christian, Judeo-Christian religion and Age of Enlightenment rationalism. It has influenced, or contributed to, various forms of Western philosophy, mysticism, Western religions, religion, science, pseudoscience, Western art history, art, Western literature, literature, and Western culture#Music, music. The idea of grouping a wide range of Western traditions and philosophies together under the term ''esotericism'' developed in 17th-century Europe. Various academics have debated numerous definitions of Western esotericism. One view adopts a definition from certain esotericist schools of thought themselves, treating "esotericism" as a perennial philosophy, perennial hidden inner tradition. A second perspective sees esotericism as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2012 Phenomenon
The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, and festivities took place on 21 December 2012 to commemorate the event in the countries that were part of the Maya civilization (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador), with main events at Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae were proposed for this date. A New Age interpretation held that the date marked the start of a period during which Earth and its inhabitants would undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 21 December 2012 would mark the beginning of a new era. Others suggested that the date marked the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world included the arrival of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mayanism
Mayanism is a non-codified eclectic collection of New Age beliefs, influenced in part by Pre-Columbian Maya mythology and some folk beliefs of the modern Maya peoples. Contemporary Mayanism places less emphasis on contacts between the ancient Maya and lost lands than in the work of early writers such as Godfrey Higgins, Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg and Augustus Le Plongeon, alluding instead to possible contacts with extraterrestrial life. However, it continues to include references to Atlantis. Notions about extraterrestrial influence on the Maya can be traced to the book '' Chariots of the Gods?'' by Erich von Däniken, whose ancient astronaut theories were in turn influenced by the work of Peter Kolosimo and especially the team of Jacques Bergier and Louis Pauwels, authors of '' Le Matin des magiciens''. These latter writers were inspired by the fantasy literature of H. P. Lovecraft and publications by Charles Fort. However, there remain elements of fascinat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fingerprints Of The Gods
''Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization'' is a 1995 pseudoarcheology book by British writer Graham Hancock. It contends that an advanced civilization existed on Antarctica during the last ice age, until the continent supposedly suddenly shifted south to its current position. The author proposes that survivors of this cataclysm passed on their profound knowledge to cultures around the world, giving rise to the earliest known civilizations. The idea is a form of hyperdiffusionism that is largely based on the work of Ignatius L. Donnelly and Charles Hapgood. The book was followed by '' Magicians of the Gods''. Thesis Hancock argues for a civilisation centered on Antarctica (which lay farther from the South Pole than today) that supposedly left evidence (the "fingerprints" of the title) in Ancient Egypt and American civilisations such as the Olmec, Aztec and Maya. Hancock discusses: * creation myths describing deities like: ** Osiris, Thoth (Egy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
